Ron Wyden

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 640, Michele Taylor, of Georgia, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as United States Representative to the UN Human Rights Council; that the Senate vote on the nomination without any intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today is a doubly special day. February 17 is the 46th anniversary of the founding of the Pension Rights Center. February 17 is also the birthday of Karen Ferguson, the long-time director of the Pension Rights Center, who passed away recently. The Pension Rights Center as helmed by Ms. Ferguson was known as a tireless advocate for the right of workers and senior citizens to enjoy a dignified and secure retirement. Their passion for retirement security is something that I have also shared since the 1970s, when I helped to found the Oregon Gray Panthers, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of senior citizens. The support of the Pension Rights Center and Ms. Ferguson was instrumental in the passage of recent legislation such as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 and the financial assistance program for distressed multiemployer pension plans in the American Rescue Plan Act. On this double anniversary, I urge my colleagues to reflect on the progress that has been made so far in improving retirement security in the United States and to double down in our efforts to fight for further improvement.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, it has been 11 years since the people of Bahrain gathered in the streets of Manama to urge their leaders to grant them stronger economic, social, and human rights. Bahrainis of all backgrounds called upon their leaders for meaningful change, for a voice at the table in the matters that affected their everyday lives. But their activism was met with brutal repression from the Kingdom of Bahrain. Journalists and human rights activists have shared with the world how Bahrain's national security forces violently beat unarmed protestors in the crowds, severely injuring and even killing protestors with tear gas, rubber bullets, and other live ammunition. The forces arbitrarily arrested and detained journalists, pursued volunteers who were helping the injured, and spared no one, not even children. This anniversary is stained by the blood of the Bahraini people, and it pains me that despite over a decade of asking for accountability and reform, there has been little change from their government. The country's leadership continues to commit and permit appalling human rights violations. Past reports from the U.S. State Department have highlighted the mistreatment of prisoners, including torture, inhumane punishment, and lack of proper access to medical care. Conditions have been further exacerbated by COVID-19, with two major outbreaks in overcrowded prisons last year. Yet the government continues to deny access to human rights experts, including the U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture. The Bahrain Government has also attempted to silence dissent by imprisoning opposition leaders, outlawing opposition parties, and banning online content as they see fit. The government restricts free speech on social media from their people and requires news and broadcasting outlets to be government-sanctioned, effectively stifling all independent journalism and healthy discourse. Additionally, reports indicate that the Bahrain Government monitors activists and other targets of interest by hacking into their phones. My father was a journalist, so I know how vital freedom of speech and freedom of press are to a flourishing, stable country. As a staunch defender against government overreach and unwarranted surveillance, I cannot stand idly by as the people of Bahrain live in constant fear of surveillance, arrest, and imprisonment for simply voicing their thoughts. America must hold Bahrain to a high standard, as we do with all our allies. The United States maintains a strategic relationship with Bahrain, as the country cooperates on U.S. defense initiatives in the region and hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. The United States represents a beacon of hope and democracy to the rest of the world, and we cannot remain silent in the face of over a decade of human rights violations and repression. This is a key year for change; Bahrain is slated to hold its parliamentary elections later this year. I strongly urge the Bahrain Government to allow peaceful demonstration and dissent, open their doors to independent oversight and international election observers, address their violations of human rights, and cease their attacks on free speech and free press. And during this pivotal year, I also urge the Biden administration to hold the Bahrain Government accountable for their overdue promises of reform.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2159.

Mr. WYDEN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 500.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3527.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Tester- Moran substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1281.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to remember the late Frank Moore of Oregon. Frank passed away last month at 98. The story of Frank Moore is really at least three stories. It is a story about a war hero; it is a story about a natural resources hero; and it is a love story, which is the only way to describe his wonderful marriage with his wife Jeanne, who survives him. To begin, Frank will always be remembered in our corner of the Nation as a legendary fly fisherman who channeled his love of the Umpqua River into protecting and preserving this extraordinary natural treasure in Southern Oregon. It has been said in fishing circles: Most of the world is covered by water. A fisherman's job is simple: Pick out the best parts. And my friend Frank picked out, consistently, the best parts of his extraordinary life, and all of us as Oregonians are better off for his good judgments about the Umpqua and about so much else in Oregon. After returning to our State from World War II, storming Utah Beach at Normandy on D-day and later fighting at the Battle of the Bulge, Frank bought the Steamboat Inn with his wife and work teammate, Jeanne. Together, they provided generations of visitors an unmatched recreation experience on the North Umpqua. In the decades that followed, Frank became a fly fisherman so, so revered, so quintessentially Oregon, that he could count our late Governor, Tom McCall--an extraordinary fisherman in his own right--as just a fishing buddy. We call it the Oregon Way, where Oregonians come together to keep our State so special for living, working, and raising a family. I will tell the Presiding Officer, I know Oregon is a long way from Georgia, but the fact is, there isn't anything that is more ``Oregon Way,'' that shortens the distance between Oregon and the rest of the country, than priorities like fishing and having a special relationship with somebody like Tom McCall. With respect to his war heroism, in addition to earning France's highest award of merit for his World War II service, we saw Frank's extraordinary accomplishments in Oregon when we talked about his work in natural resources and what we saw when he got together with friends, and I am going to talk about one particularly eventful meeting. Frank was named Oregon's Wildlife Federation's Conservationist of the Year in 1969. He served on the State Fish and Wildlife Commission from 1971 to 1974. He was among the leaders in getting passed the Oregon Forest Practices law to protect fish in streams. He earned the International Federation of Fly Fishers Conservationist of the Year Award in 2003, and he was inducted into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in 2010. I had a chance to have some of the most memorable experiences I have had in public service with Frank Moore. Back when I was chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I remember being in the backyard of the Ratzlaffs, Jim and Jane Ratzlaff, of Roseburg, OR. Jim has passed. I continue to stay in touch with Jane. And in their backyard one wonderful day, where my former staffer, Mary Gautreaux, who is up in Heaven listening to this discussion, the late Mary Gautreaux, we conceived of the idea of all working together to protect 100,000 acres of public lands in the Steamboat Creek watershed for steelhead preservation. I say to the Presiding Officer, as former chairman of the committee, I have been through some of the rituals that we all see in the committee process--and I am sure my colleague has gnashed his teeth over one or two of them already--but one of the things that we noted early on is that this incredible love affair between Frank and Jeanne that went on for decades didn't really fit into the legislative process so I wanted to name a Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary after both of them because they were partners in life, partners at the Steamboat Inn, partners in everything. Well, I just checked in with the inimitable David Brooks, who is our guy at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee who has worked for decades on preserving these treasures. At the time, David reminded me, you really had a tradition of not being able to name one of these bills to protect your treasures after two people. It was not like it was a law; it was a tradition, but members felt kind of strongly about it. I won't mention any names. But Frank Moore, when I told him that, he said: Ron, I love you to pieces, but this bill has got to be named for both of us because we have been partners in life. We have been partners in the Steamboat Inn and in the sanctuary and the like. So I went back and told David Brooks about this. And, finally, I am not sure everybody actually agreed to name it after Frank and Jeanne, this wonderful love affair, but I just basically did it. And around here, as the Presiding Officer knows, sometimes if you do it, other people won't raise a fuss. That is how Frank Moore of Southern Oregon ensured that, for all time, we would have a wonderful place known as the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary, as a monument to make sure, for generations to come, young people would have a special place to go. I would just note, because I talked to her just a few minutes ago, that Colleen Moore Bechtel, who is a teacher at West Intermediate School in Sutherlin--she and her class may be watching this proceeding today. They were trying to figure out how to get C-SPAN on live. I will have more to say about Colleen before I wrap up. But I am so pleased because that is exactly what Frank and Jeanne, to this day, have always wanted--was to make sure that our treasures, our really special places, would be there for the future. So I am hoping, if they weren't able to see it live, that Colleen will be able to show these remarks to all the kids at the Douglas County school, West Intermediate in Sutherlin, what their U.S. Senator thought about Frank Moore. The last time I visited with Frank and Jeanne in October 2020, circumstances had really dealt them a tough hand. We had a horrible fire known as the Archie Creek Fire. It had destroyed the log cabin that Frank had built above the Umpqua, and Frank and Jeanne were living with their daughter, Colleen, and her family in Glide. But you would have never known from Frank about that loss of a lifetime's work and care. Instead, that fall afternoon, on a pretty front porch in rural Douglas County, Frank came striding out onto the porch with that wonderful smile, a bone-crushing handshake, and one joke after another, with a twinkle in his eyes. He was always optimistic about our State, an optimist on that day right after his treasured home had been ravaged by fire. He never wavered from that focus. In fact, this past July, I was so pleased that he wrote an opinion piece in our publication, Eugene's Register-Guard, that detailed how the ``wild & scenic river'' designation had helped the North Umpqua. He talked about his involvement with me to promote the River Democracy Act--a really fresh approach endorsed by hundreds of small, rural businesses to ensure that we preserve our treasures and also tap the full potential for the recreation economy. Now, there have been a lot of recent remembrances of Frank, and almost all of them talk about him being a giant of Oregon. Those characterizations--certainly of his impact on the southern part of my State and our entire State--are on point. I want to make sure, though, that something else that Frank said can stick with me. He was always quoted as saying the important thing was that Jeanne was with him. Referring to Jeanne, his wife of 79 years, Frank said: I have the treasure with me. That's my treasure. And I can tell the Presiding Officer that virtually every time I saw this wonderful couple, they were holding hands. It just said it all-- holding hands. And they had been married for 79 years. So tonight I just want to say to Jeanne, to all of Frank's loved ones, to all of the kids who may be following this in Oregon schools, I am just going to add: Frank is always going to be Oregon's treasure. And on behalf of Oregonians, who are certainly scattered almost everywhere, I thank you for sharing Frank with all of us. And I am speaking on behalf of Oregonians everywhere. Through the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary and so many other ``best parts'' that Frank leaves as his legacy, Frank Moore will never be forgotten. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 637, 702, 703, and 709; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be made and laid on the table without intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 636, Neil Harvey MacBride, of Virginia, to be General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury; that there be 30 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form on the nomination; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time with respect to all nominations on which cloture was invoked on February 2 and 3, 2022, be considered expired and that the confirmation votes be at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 504, submitted earlier today.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 505, submitted earlier today.

Mr. WYDEN. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it recess until 3 p.m. on Monday, February 7; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that at 5:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session and vote on confirmation of the Scott and Tunnage nominations, as provided under the previous order; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Monday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, for the information of Senators, there will be two rollcall votes on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand in recess under the previous order.